Come Join Us and Experience the Rich History and Seafaring Heritage of Historic Beaufort, NC

The Pirate attack of 1747

·        Spanish pirates attacked and pillaged the town twice during the summer in 1747, until driven off by local farmers and the militia.  A list of the men who served at this time can be seen on display at Fort Macon

·        For many years, “The Pirate Invasion” was re-enacted every year on the last Saturday in June on the Beaufort Waterfront.

·        One Spanish pirate, during the invasion of 1747, was cornered and caught in the attic of The Hammock House, where he was killed on the spot.

The Revolutionary War in Beaufort

·       The attacks by the Spanish in 1747 prompted the construction of Fort Dobbs in 1755 (Named after NC Governor Arthur Dobbs) on Bogue Island, followed by Fort Hampton, two miles southwest of Beaufort.

·       Beaufort reacted to the Amer. Revolution by providing men, leadership and supplies, and paid dearly for having done so.  Royal Governor Thomas Burke sent a force of 250 men and four vessels from Charleston to Beaufort to “plunder and destroy the Town of Beaufort” 

·       The British entered the town near the end of the war around the year 1782, after the defeat of Cornwallis.  Their soldiers, under Major Stuart of the L’Dragoons, landed and engaged the townsmen while others from the ships plundered the town.  The town was later fired upon and the schoolhouse burned after a fight between the enemy and the town force.  Prisoners were taken and negotiations were carried on for their exchange.

The War of 1812 in Beaufort

·       During the War of 1812, with the ports of Charleston and Baltimore blockaded by the British, Beaufort assumed importance as a port for privateer operations.  Carteret’s Captain Otway Burns, on his ship Snap Dragon, was one of the major privateers

·       In July, 1814, British forces landed at Cape Lookout and partially destroyed the lighthouse there.   When the British attempted another landing on July 16, they were repulsed by troops from Fort Hampton and Beaufort.  The first Cape Lookout lighthouse continued to serve until Nov. 1, 1859, when the present lighthouse was first lit.

Otway Burns

·        In 1812, Burns of Beaufort was the Captain of a merchant ship sailing between New Bern and Maine.  With the sense of patriotism  following recent British threats, he arranged to purchase a larger and faster vessel that he eventually renamed to Snap Dragon, with which he intended to prey on the British.  He applied for “letters of marque”, which would allow him to prey on English ships without being considered a pirate.  The term for this type of marauder is "Privateer"

·       On his first voyage of six months, Burns took eight English vessels, heavily laden with valuable cargo.

·       On his second voyage as a privateer, Burns sailed from Newfoundland to South America, capturing numbers of British ships and their cargo with a total value of over $1 million.

·       Just east of Beaufort, the town of Otway is named in his honor.  He is buried in The Old Burying Ground at the grave with a cannon on it.

Vacationing in Beaufort

·        Some of the most popular vacation places in town were The Atlantic Hotel, The Ocean House and The Sea Breeze.   The Davis House and The Manson House, still standing on Front St. were also popular boarding houses for vacationing in the late 1800’s. 

·        Beaufort was a very popular “summering” place for many early wealthy Americans. 

·        Visitors had to take the train to Morehead City, then board boats to be ferried over to the Beaufort waterfront.  Sharpies – square rigged sailboat that was a very popular design during that period in Beaufort and Morehead City.

The Atlantic Hotel

·        Capt. Josiah Pender built The Atlantic Hotel in 1859 for a total construction cost of $4,000.  The Atlantic was 3 stories high with triple porches and numerous boardwalks and docks on which to get out to the boats, or just to take a stroll.

·        Col. Charles Jones was the editor and owner of The Charlotte Observer, and raved about Beaufort and The Atlantic Hotel to his readership as a vacation place that no other place on the East Coast could rival.

·        Governors, Judges, Colonels and Capt.’s were among the elite guests.  Only the guests of the highest quality were admitted, and anyone who’s character was remotely questioned was refused service.

·        Famous for their entertainment.  Balls, galas, theatre, music, acrobats, dances, sailboat races, croquet, fishing, and bowling.  They claimed that “there was never a bored guest”, and that “jollification” was enjoyed by everyone.

·        During the Civil War, was used temporarily as a hospital.  Run by the Sisters of Mercy, a group of nuns from St. Catherine’s convent in New York.  Called The Hammond Hospital.  Turned from ruin into a workable hospital by the sisters and their helpers.

·        At the corner of Pine and Marsh streets was a small cemetery used to bury soldiers who had died at the Hammond Hospital.  Any signs of this cemetery are nearly disappeared.

·        A room was $2.50 a day in 1877.   Round trip railroad tickets from Charlotte, good for the whole season were $19.05, a ten day ticket was $9.95

·        In the spring of 1877, the Atlantic Hotel was damaged by a freak storm

·        A Hurricane wiped out The Atlantic Hotel in 1879.   The governor of NC was actually there when the hurricane hit.  The owners of the Atlantic assured people that all was ok, while the rest of the town, wise to the weather patterns, prepared for the storm.  The governor of NC, Thomas Jarvis, along with many others, lost all of his belongings and clothes when they had to immediately evacuate the Atlantic.

·        All of the Beaufort water front was demolished and there was 8 feet of water on Front St.  Winds were estimated to be 125 mph.  The good citizens of Beaufort took good care of those who were left without clothes, belongings or a place to sleep.  Railroad was damaged and the survivors from the Atlantic couldn’t leave until the track was fixed.  Every boat in the harbor was either capsized or sitting somewhere in the town.  One two-masted sloop came to rest 200 yards inland.  Morehead City was also devastated by the storm.

·        Ball gowns were found with price tags still attached for $75 or more.  This was at the same time that a normal shirt could be bought for $1 and $150 would by an entire year of education at the local College.

Railroad Issues

·        In 1852, a bill was passed to run a railroad from Goldsboro to Beaufort.  When the bill was passed, they’d not decided where the terminus would be.  A surveyor came to Beaufort and identified four possible locations for the end of the line, but none suited the citizens of the town.  Through misunderstandings and delays, Beaufort lost it’s chance for a railroad and did not get one for over 50 years.  As a result, Wilmington outpaced Beaufort in commercial traffic and growth during the late 19^th century.

·        No railroad ran into the town of Beaufort until 1907.

·        Round trip railroad tickets from Charlotte to Morehead City, good for the whole season were $19.05, a ten day ticket was $9.95

·        The Beaufort Hotel went into bankruptcy because of the lack of transportation.  Wilmington’s railroad was completed in 1840 and business there was booming in the hotel/hospitality industry.

Carteret Academy

·        In the19th century, it served as the Beaufort Female Academy, a school for girls from the Outer Banks.

·        The school room was located on the ground floor with the living quarters on the 2 upper floors.

Carrot Island

·        Got it’s name from the carts that were left on the island by fishermen who emptied their nets on the south side of the island, and used the carts to transport the fish from there, across Taylor’s Creek on a narrow bridge of land that existed then.  The name evolved from “Cart Island” to “Carrot Island” over the years.  The fishermen used ballast stones to build the ford across Taylor’s creek in order to get their carts over.

·        Now designated as the “Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve”, the Reserve was established in 1985.

·        The Rachel Carson Reserve totals 2,625 acres.  Rachel Carson is located between the Newport and North rivers and receives fresh water from both.

·        Estuaries are vigorous, vital ecosystems where plant species survive and thrive. They are home for clams, whelks, shrimp, dolphins, crabs, and much more marine life, they serve as a nursery for juvenile fish, a storage basin for nutrients and a buffer from storms for creatures in the air, on the land and under the water.

·        There are 160 species of birds living in the Reserve.  The Shackleford Ponies also swim to and spend considerable time feeding in the reserve.

·        The Rachel Carson site has a well-marked half-mile trail loop. From the trail, visitors will get to see most of the habitats of the island and many of the plant and animal species that make the site so valuable.  The self-interpretive trail brochure is available at the Education office, local ferries, and the North Carolina Maritime Museum.

·        Rachel Carson has been called “the mother of the modern environmental movement.”  She is best known for writing Silent Spring, a 1962 book exposing the dangers pesticides pose to the environment.

·        Rachel Carson was born May 27, 1907 in Springdale, PA. Her mother encouraged young Rachel’s love of nature. In 1932, she received an M.A. in Zoology from John Hopkins University. In, 1936, she became a junior aquatic biologist for the Bureau of Fisheries.

·        Rachel Carson was fascinated with the relationship of human beings and their environments. In 1938, she came to Beaufort, NC to visit the U.S. Fisheries Station. Her visit had a strong impact. It inspired the writing on shorebirds in her book, Under the Sea-Wind (1941). In The Edge of the Sea (1955), Carson describes the estuarine region in Beaufort that now bears her name, The Rachel Carson Reserve.

• Rachel Carson passed away in 1964 after a long struggle with cancer. Her writings serve as inspiration for all generations. Her love of ocean life speaks to all of us: “The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place...”

Shackleford Ponies

·        Wild Horses have lived on Shackleford Banks for almost 500 years.  

·        In 1739, a ship load of Arabian horses was documented as having shipwrecked on Shackleford Banks.

·        Adaptation to the harsh environment  over the years caused the ponies to survive as short, stubby and rugged versions of their forefathers.  The ponies are now protected and they are beginning to live longer and grow larger as new generations appear.

·        Every summer, there was a “pony pinning” on Shackleford Banks and for some this was the highlight of the season.  Guests from the Atlantic Hotel would come by boat to join in the auction of the ponies.  Often they would be purchased and taken home for young children by parents and grandparents, because they were often no bigger than large dogs.

Marine Research Lab

·        In 1885, the Johns Hopkins Univ. Chesapeake Zoological Lab was operating in Beaufort at what is known today as the Gibbs House, located on the corner of Front St. and Live Oak St.

·        The lab, which was the first U.S. Marine Laboratory on the Atlantic Coast, later moved to Piver’s Island, where now Duke Marine Laboratory and the US Fisheries Dept. bring scientists and students from all over the world.  Many of these people always have and do live in Beaufort.

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